Print Report
A4107 Carex spp. - Calamagrostis canadensis Northern Wet Meadow Alliance
Type Concept Sentence: This wet meadow alliance is found in the northeastern United States and Great Lakes region and is dominated by Calamagrostis canadensis and Carex spp. (usually Carex lacustris, Carex lasiocarpa, Carex stricta, Carex vesicaria, and Carex utriculata). Sites are flooded or saturated for most of the growing season, and soils tend to be fine-textured with muck or sedge peat.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Carex spp. - Calamagrostis canadensis Northern Wet Meadow Alliance
Colloquial Name: Laurentian-Acadian Graminoid Wet Meadow
Hierarchy Level: Alliance
Type Concept: This wet meadow alliance is found in the northeastern United States and Great Lakes region and adjacent Canada. It is dominated by medium to medium-tall graminoids, usually with moderate to dense cover. Dominant species are Calamagrostis canadensis and Carex spp., usually Carex lacustris, Carex lasiocarpa, Carex stricta, Carex vesicaria, and Carex utriculata, but sometimes others. Sites are flooded or saturated for at least part of the growing season, but surface water may be gone later in the growing season. Soils tend to be fine-textured and often have muck or sedge peat accumulated from decaying organic matter.
Diagnostic Characteristics: Wet meadows dominated by Calamagrostis canadensis, Carex lacustris, Carex stricta, Carex vesicaria, and Carex utriculata.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: This alliance includes associations dominated by medium and tall Carex spp. and by Calamagrostis canadensis. Stands can be nearly monotypic or a diverse mix of species. Currently, this type occurs in the northern parts of the Great Lakes region, i.e., north of the tension zone in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan (Curtis 1959), and extends northward and eastward in the Laurentian region of the United States and Canada, and southward into the Central Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic regions. Review is needed to see if the alliance should be split into a Laurentian type versus Central Appalachian - Mid-Atlantic type. Sedge meadows south of the tension zone are treated in ~Midwest Wet Prairie, Wet Meadow & Shrub Swamp Group (G770)$$. This split may also resolve problematic distributions among the four associations.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: This alliance has moderate to dense cover of medium to medium-tall graminoids. Tall shrubs and trees are rare or absent. Short shrubs may be present and even common in some stands. Total shrub cover is <25%, and trees have <10% cover.
Floristics: Dominant species are Calamagrostis canadensis and Carex spp., usually Carex lacustris, Carex lasiocarpa, Carex stricta, Carex vesicaria, and Carex utriculata. These species often dominate stands and can form near monotypic stands, but other species are present to codominant in some stands. Other graminoids include Agrostis gigantea, Carex aquatilis, Glyceria grandis, Poa palustris, Scirpus cyperinus, and Typha spp., and common forbs include Acorus calamus, Comarum palustre, Eupatorium spp., Iris versicolor, Lobelia cardinalis, Polygonum amphibium, and Symphyotrichum lanceolatum, among others. Shrubs include Alnus incana, Betula pumila, Cornus sericea, Dasiphora fructicosa, Myrica gale, Salix spp., Spiraea alba, and Spiraea tomentosa (Cohen et al. 2015).
Dynamics: Sites are flooded or saturated for at least part of the growing season but surface water is often gone by late in the summer.
Environmental Description: Sites are flooded or saturated for at least part of the growing season but surface water may be gone later in the growing season. Soils tend to be fine-textured and often have muck or sedge peat accumulated from decaying organic matter.
Geographic Range: This alliance is found in the northeastern United States, Great Lakes region and adjacent Canada. Its range southward is not well-defined.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: CT, DE, MA, MB, MD, ME, MI, MN, ND?, NH, NJ, NY, ON, PA, QC, RI, SD, VA, VT, WI, WV
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.926768
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
Concept Lineage: This alliance is composed of one association from A.1397, two from A.1400, and one from A.1403.
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: No Data Available
- Cohen, J. G., M. A. Kost, B. S. Slaughter, and D. A. Albert. 2015. A field guide to the natural communities of Michigan. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, MI. 362 pp.
- Faber-Langendoen, D., J. Drake, M. Hall, G. Kittel, S. Menard, C. Nordman, M. Pyne, M. Reid, M. Russo, K. Schulz, L. Sneddon, K. Snow, and J. Teague. 2013-2019b. Screening alliances for induction into the U.S. National Vegetation Classification: Part 1 - Alliance concept review. NatureServe, Arlington, VA.